(KFF Health News/Oona Zenda)

As nuns disappear, many Catholic hospitals look more like megacorporations

News

Nuns founded and led Catholic hospitals to treat sick and poor people. But over time, a focus on margins led the hospitals to transform into behemoths that operate for-profit subsidiaries and pay their executives millions.

The Latest

Editors' Choice

Focus

Delegates engage in discussions at the United States of America’s pavilion during COP 29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, Nov. 11-22. (NCR photo/Doreen Ajiambo)

In Focus

Trump's election, embrace of fossil fuels casts shadow over UN climate summit

Donald Trump's looming return has cast a shadow over COP29, say Catholic officials here who worry Trump will not only halt U.S. progress in reducing heat-trapping emissions but also undermine international efforts.

Most Read Stories

Tattered American flag against cloudy sky (Unsplash/Kevin Luke)
NCR Voices

#1
The election that turned the other direction — and so what do we do now?

What kind of leadership will we get? Whatever it is, we must always remember that in a democracy, we put the leaders there ourselves and so we must save it ourselves, as well.

ByJoan Chittister
Archbishop Timothy Broglio, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, speaks during a news conference at a Nov. 14, 2023, session of the bishops' fall general assembly in Baltimore. (OSV News/Bob Roller)
NCR Voices

#2
Archbishop Broglio gives appalling interview with Arroyo ahead of bishops' meeting

Sometime this morning at the U.S. bishops' assembly, Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese of the Military Services will give his address as president of the conference. It is scary to think what he will say.

ByMichael Sean Winters
Ralph Fiennes is pictured playing Cardinal Lawrence with Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes in a screengrab of behind the scenes footage for director Edward Berger's "Conclave." (NCR/YouTube/Focus Features)

#3
Interview with Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and Edward Berger on making 'Conclave'

NCR spoke with "Conclave" director Edward Berger and actors Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini about accuracy in liturgical portrayals, the role of faith in the creative process, and thoughts about spiritual leadership.

ByZachary Lee

#4
US bishops' conference elections mark defeat for arch-conservatives

#5
Trump's election reveals what America is, but not what it could be

#6
Bishops seek an elusive unity while Trump's shadow threatens their flock

Opinion

How will the Catholic bishops deal with the new Trump administration?

Guest Voices

Chapter 11 helps church officials, not kids or victims

Guest Voices
Choir members sing during the St. Patrick's Day Parade Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City March 16. (OSV News/The Tablet/Gregory Shemitzt)

Hymnody and synodality in Missouri

NCR Voices

NCR's Michael Sean Winters praises Bishop W. Shawn McKnight for reversing his decision to ban certain hymns from his diocese, publicly proposing a synodal process as a solution to a local, ecclesial problem. 

Risking the Questions podcast: Struggle as the pathway to hope

Senate Judiciary Committee, led by a Catholic, offers hope amid polarization

Guest Voices
Fr. Bob Kabat, pastor of St. Matthew Parish in Allouez, Wis., distributes ashes to a young child during Ash Wednesday Mass, Feb. 14. Some 53% of American Catholics are "cultural Catholics" who attend Mass "a few times a year" or "seldom or never," while 47% attend monthly or more often. (OSV News/Sam Lucero)

Cultural Catholics: The loosely-tethered half of the American church

Guest Voices

Maureen K. Day shares insights from her new book comparing the 53% of American Catholics who attend Mass "a few times a year" or "seldom or never" with the 47% who attend monthly or more often. 

Vatican

Pope Francis greets faithful during his weekly general audience in St. Peter's Square at the Vatican Nov. 20. (AP/Gregorio Borgia)
Vatican News

Pope warns Vatican pension fund needs urgent reform as employees demand transparency

Pope Francis, who has imposed a series of cost-cutting measures across the cash-strapped Vatican, warned Nov. 21 that the city state's troubled pension fund needs urgent reform to guarantee future obligations. 

St. Peter's Square
Vatican News

Pope approves simplified rites for papal funeral, burial

Pope Francis, who will celebrate his 88th birthday in December, has approved simplified liturgical rites for the death of a pontiff.

ByCindy Wooden, Catholic News Service
Pope sits surrounded by children; he gestures and smiles, wearing glasses.
Vatican News

Pope to make late Italian teenager Carlo Acutis the first millennial saint on April 27

Francis made the announcement at the end of his weekly general audience on Wednesday, saying he would proclaim the church's youngest contemporary saint during the Jubilee of Adolescents at the Vatican on April 25-27.

ByAssociated Press
Parolin and Zelenskyy shake hands.
Vatican News

Top Vatican diplomat says Russia must act first to end Ukraine war

As the 1,000th day since Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine approached, the Vatican secretary of state said he hoped the milestone would "awaken a sense of responsibility in everyone, especially those who can stop the ongoing carnage."

ByCindy Wooden, Catholic News Service

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Francis, the comic strip

Francis, the comic strip: Divisions

Vatican News

Vatican Cardinal Parolin hopeful about 'synergy' with Trump administration

Vatican News

Pope Francis calls for investigation to determine if Israel's attacks in Gaza constitute 'genocide'

A bird picks up a piece of trash on Avila Beach along California's central coast. (Unsplash/Tim Mossholder)
Viewpoints

Climate action at COP29 needed for humanity and our 'companions along the way'

We need to listen to what birds have to say — to preach — to us and how it is we who need an "ecological conversion." An important part of this conversion will be safeguarding species in danger of extinction.

Rescuers work at Okhmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, Ukraine's capital, July 8, after it was severely damaged during Russian missile strikes. At least 31 were killed and over 135 injured as Russian bombers pummeled Kyiv and other Ukrainian cities that day with more than 40 missiles and guided aerial bombs. (OSV News/Reuters/Oleksandr Ratushniakters)
Faith

Make clean energy, not wars, faith activists tell world leaders at climate summit

Debate about how much money countries should direct toward addressing climate change has overlooked the massive spending on weapons and wars, say faith activists at  the U.N. climate conference in Azerbaijan. 

ByDoreen Ajiambo
The bishop, vested for ordinary time and wearing mitre, stands with his arm around Kremer who holds his award plaque.

Missouri farmer's faith drives him to innovate, stand up for farmers and communities

Bishop W. Shawn Mc­Knight of Jefferson City called Russ Kremer a witness of how Catholic social teaching can be the foundation of a reform for "agribusiness" in the United States, moving back toward a food supply network that is based on the dignity of the human person.

ByJay Nies, OSV News
Climate activists demonstrate inside Baku Stadium at the United Nations climate change conference, COP29, on Nov. 16. A major focus is a new climate finance target, with developing nations calling on developed nations to deliver trillions of dollars in the next decade. (UN Climate Change/Habib Samadov)
Politics

As clock ticks, faith groups press COP29 to deliver ambitious climate finance target

As the U.N. climate change conference reached the halfway point, faith groups appealed for countries to set an ambitious new target to finance the transition to clean energy and adaptation measures for a rapidly warming world.

ByDoreen Ajiambo

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Pope picks Chicago priest to oversee ecology center at papal villa

Politics

Trump's election, embrace of fossil fuels casts shadow over UN climate summit

Viewpoints

Developed countries can't bypass loss and damage in COP29 climate finance goal

Culture

A view of Ballaghaderreen, County Roscommon, Ireland, in 2008 includes the Cathedral of the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Nathy. (Wikimedia Commons/Sean Cunniffe)
Book Reviews

Irish Times journalist Patsy McGarry's memoir traces Ireland's social earthquakes

The longtime Irish Times religion reporter Patsy McGarry is a conscience of Ireland. In Well, Holy God, he tells his own story, while shedding light on the Catholic Church abuse crisis that jolted Irish identity. 

The impressionist artists of "Société Anonyme" broke from tradition not only in style, but also through the portrayal of modern domestic life, with particular attention to women. Edgar Degas, "At the Races in the Countryside," 1869, oil on canvas, displayed in National Gallery of Art's "Paris 1874: The Impressionist Moment" exhibit. (National Gallery of Art)

Two art exhibits in DC widen our perspectives of their moments in history

The National Gallery's "Paris 1874" exhibit and the Museum of the Bible's first public viewing of the Megiddo Mosaic both explore women's roles, political division and the beauty of a broader cultural lens.

ByAlli Bobzien
A blood-spattered O'Prey wears armor.

Martin Scorsese on 'The Saints,' faith in filmmaking and what his next movie might be

For decades, Scorsese has pondered a project dedicated to the saints. Now, he's finally realized it in “Martin Scorsese Presents: The Saints,” an eight-part docudrama series debuting Sunday on Fox Nation, the streaming service from Fox News Media. Scorsese, who turns 82 on Sunday, recently met for an interview not long after returning from a trip to his grandfather's hometown in Sicily. He was made an honorary citizen and the experience was still lingering in his mind.

ByJake Coyle, Associated Press
Ralph Fiennes is pictured playing Cardinal Lawrence with Isabella Rossellini as Sister Agnes in a screengrab of behind the scenes footage for director Edward Berger's "Conclave." (NCR/YouTube/Focus Features)

Interview with Ralph Fiennes, Isabella Rossellini and Edward Berger on making 'Conclave'

NCR spoke with "Conclave" director Edward Berger and actors Ralph Fiennes and Isabella Rossellini about accuracy in liturgical portrayals, the role of faith in the creative process, and thoughts about spiritual leadership.

ByZachary Lee

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

'Heretic' star Sophie Thatcher on religion, acting and 'otherness' within art

Book Reviews

This Veterans Day, war poetry reminds us of the cost of conflict

For females, the terror of 'Woman of the Hour' is all too familiar

Residents are illuminated by the headlights of a car during a blackout after a major power plant failed Oct. 18 in Havana, Cuba. (AP photo/Ramon Espinosa, file)

Amid shortages and blackouts, sisters accompany people of Cuba

Despite years of shortages in Cuba, and now more constant blackouts, Catholic sisters and priests are committed to remain with those suffering on the island.

Sr. Kathleen Neely speaks in Spanish to a patient at the Family Community Clinic in Louisville, Kentucky, where she volunteers as a translator. (GSR photo/Dan Stockman)

Ursulines offer Spanish translation services to Louisville patients

Ursuline Srs. Kathleen Neely and Mary Martha Staarman volunteer as Spanish translators for patients at the Family Community Clinic, a free medical clinic on the St. Joseph Parish campus in Louisville, Kentucky.

ByDan Stockman
A Catholic Health Training Institute nurse trainee takes a practical exam at St. Daniel Comboni Catholic Hospital, with Sr. Bindhu George, a gynecologist and principal at the Wau, South Sudan college. (Courtesy of Scholasticah Nganda)
Columns

Nursing and midwifery college a beacon of hope for South Sudan

With its nursing and midwifery program, the Catholic Health Training Institute in Wau, South Sudan, remains a small beacon of hope in a nation struggling to recover from both old and new wars. 
 

By
A person stands on top of a sand dune, with sunlight coming from the left of the photo.(Unsplash/NOEM)

Risking the Questions podcast: Struggle as the pathway to hope

Listen: Sister Joan recounts an incident of struggle in her early life and the lifelong insights that emerged from it.

ByTom Roberts, Joan Chittister

IN CASE YOU MISSED IT

Women and the church: A matter of evolution

Q&A with Sr. Darlene Kawulok: 'You are created of God'

Monday Starter: Mercy Sister receives award from US bishops' conference

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